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Motorsports veteran Tom Cotter has been named president of the group fronting the Formula One Grand Prix of America at Port Imperial, which plans to bring an F1 race to the shores of the Hudson River in June 2013, the first in a 10-year contract.

“It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Cotter, 57, who will divide his time between his home in North Carolina and F1 GP of America headquarters, located in Manhattan and Port Imperial, N.J., where the race will be staged on a 3.2-mile street course. Plans call for the Manhattan skyline to be visible just across the river.

Cotter, a New York native, began working at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1985 as the director of public relations for track president “Humpy” Wheeler. Four years later, Cotter founded the Cotter Group, which pioneered motorsports public relations. The firm, which began with two employees, had more than 70 in 2000 when he sold it to Clear Channel Communications.

Since then, Cotter has worked with a variety of charitable causes--he was cochairman of the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance--and as a writer, authoring nine books including the popular In The Barn series, fittingly about dust-covered classic cars and motorcycles that Cotter and others have found languishing in barns. His most recent book was a biography on drag racer/actor “TV” Tommy Ivo, and he has another book coming soon about professional musicians who have a passion for cars. He is also a contributing editor for Road & Track magazine.

Cotter told Autoweek that he was not looking for a job when his old boss, mentor and friend Wheeler called. But Wheeler is a consultant to the F1 project and its promoter and director, Leo Hindery Jr., a New York City communications executive and former racer. Hindery's wife is Speed TV executive Patti Wheeler, daughter of Humpy Wheeler.

“‘This is your time,' Humpy told me,” Cotter said. “Only a world-class opportunity like this could divert me from my bucket list. The chance to make racing history doesn't come along often.”

Most of Cotter's motorsports experience is in NASCAR, but he said he believes he can come up to speed promptly on F1.

“I'm a pretty quick learner,” Cotter said.

Though most of the Cotter Group clientele involved NASCAR, he also worked with the Mercedes-Benz open-wheel program and with drag-racing clients.

Cotter said he was not pleased with the way Clear Channel handled the Cotter Group, which eventually dissolved.

“It kind of left the end of my career with a comma, sort of incomplete,” he said. “This gives me a chance to put a period there--or maybe even an exclamation mark.”

In addition to Cotter, Hindery announced in December that former New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority CEO and president Dennis Robinson will serve as chief operations officer for the Grand Prix. Robinson is regarded as a key player in the successful effort to bring the Super Bowl to New Jersey's Meadowlands in 2014.